A few questions......

[madmiketyson]

I started a thread on here a little while back about buying myself an A4 cab.....got some useful stuff off it so Im hoping for more of the same

I have been checking 10-20 different used car sites every day since I posted that thread and I am starting to get an idea of what I want.

I test drove a 1.8T A4 cab at Derby Audi last week with the tiptronic gearbox and loved it.....unfortuanetly it was 15k and my budget doesnt quite stretch to there.....unless its got all the extras anyway!

So first question, how can I tell the difference between a multitronic gearbox and a tiptronic gearbox?
Having drove a tiptronic the other day, I figured knowing what that looked like, Id be able to spot a multitronic a mile off.......but if adverts are to be believed on autotrader they look the same....:s

I don't think I want a multitronic gearbox, having read a bit on here and various other sites about the problems with them......and I dont want to buy something thinking it is tiptronic only to find out it isnt!

Xenon headlights.....are these angel eyes? Or something totally different?

Finding the ideal car seems to be unlikely, So I am looking for something with as much of what I want as possible. Hopefully black with black hood....I love the red leather interior but it seems to be pretty rare......the black one looks nice but grey seems to be the most common. Id love my next car to have cruise control, and as I already have electirc, heated seats, Id like to keep them too! And I also want as low a mileage as possible as I plan to run this as my main car for the next 2 or 3 years! Somewhere between 03-06 plate seems to be likely.
I have seen some for sale with Audi satnav + tv and that sounds good to me too.......just finding this car seems unlikely....if anyone is selling something like that between 10and 15k, let me know!!! haha

These are a few of the most recent cars I have found and considered.....

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201016357135035
Looked perfect but had sold when I rung it. Anyone know where I can buy those wheels from?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201017357753565
Looks nice but not sure about the colour.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201017357780878
Just found this one.....curious if it is a tip or a multi.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201016357227578
Same as above.....multi or tip?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201015356890726
Whats the engine like that on this one? I havent come across any of these in my price range until now.....

I have rung up about a few cars but they seem to go pretty quickly at the minute......but anyway, in a nutshell-

1) How can I tell the difference between a multi and a tip?
2) Is the multi as bad as it appears to be reading reviews?
3) Xenon = angel eyes? Or not?
4) Anyone recommend a good tinting place in the Midlands?
5) How hard is fitting cruise control as an aftermarket thing if It doesnt come on the car I buy?
6) Any thoughts on any of those cars would be much appreciated......this is a big investment for me and I dont want to regret it a few months down the line!

I know thats a lot of text, but I am thinking as I type! Hope you all can offer an opinion on what I should do next.....I want to pick something up asap!

Cheers :icon_thumright:

 

[1wheelonly]

hi mate,
id say that the last one your showing is ODD!!! the pricing for that doesnt seem right, although it doesnt have leather by the looks of it.
if it all checks out and is 100% coshar then id be going with that one for sure.

only advise i would give is find the car you want at the price your happy with in the colour of your choice, dont compromise on something like colour or milage to get the spec you want, as you say, its a large investment.
ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can be easily retro fitted afterward and youll probbably even save money that way.
many of us on here have retro fitted many things / most things. lol
all fairly straight forward and cheap enough to pick up.
main things really i wouldnt be without is: full leather, rns-e (sat nav ), multi function wheel, and VAGCOM !! a great bit of kit that will deffo save you money and even make you money in the long run.
if your planning on lots of retro fitting and modding then its essential.

where abouts in the mids are you ?

 

[madmiketyson]

I didnt notice that one was missing leathers tbh......and thats a pretty vital thing in my mind so Ive knocked that one off the list!

I notice you like retrofits looking at your siggie Theres a few bits on your sig, Ill probably ask about once I get a car

Whats the multi function wheel about? I presumed a steering wheel was a steering wheel...lol
And VAGCOM? I have no idea what that is....lol!

Im just off Junction 25 mate, easy access to Notts, Derby and Leicester which is handy

Id really appreciate some advice on the multi/tip conundrum Im having as well......I cant spot the difference on auto trader pics and I dont want to get blagged!

 

[Digger1]

The last one on your list with 2.0 fsi engine, would be the one for me, the 2.0 fsi, is very economical , mine's averaging 30 plus MPG,It's a little slow on pick-up, other than that I've been pleased with mine, it's just done over 130k, the only prob; i've had is a couple of coil-packs, and at £28 each, who cares !!!

 

[madmiketyson]

I figured out xenons are not angel eyes now btw

 

[crazy88]

Multi function steering wheel is one with controls on for radio, phone etc. A lot of a4's don't have them it seems.

VAGCOM in a nutshell is a way of talking to your car and changing/ activating things. If you get cruise retro fitted you will need vagcom to activate it. You can also activate such things as auto door locking at 5mph, ability to open/ close windows remotely.

There's a lot of vagcom fake cables out there, with varying reviews of them. A lot of people swear by the official cable setup, but I've heard ok things about cheapo eBay ones too.

As for your other questions...I'm not sure about them so sorry

 

[1wheelonly]

digger, it states 20 fsi in listing but title states its the 2.0ltr turbo, and looking at the bhp listed im assuming it is the turbo.

mad mike, if the last one were on about is the 2.0 t then thats my choice, seems a liitle cheap though, leather cant make that much difference. and would be easy to retro fit and theres always loads of sets of leather for cabs on ebay, red set on at the moment.
i think the b7 ( facelift front ) is alot nicer looking than the b6
multi function steering is that it has controls on the wheel for the radio / phone etc. can be retro fitted though easily, i did mine.

 

[crazy88]

Would be worth addin though that steering wheel isn't cheapest retrofit. I'm not 100% sure about the price.

1wheel may be able to advise better on that. He also fit a rear parking camera too which you may be interested in. Check out his thread!

 

[1wheelonly]

yeh, crazy88 is right, it can be expensive, depending on the style of wheel you go for.
there are cheeper options, i went for the flatbottom which is dear but the s-line ones can be picked up fairly reasonable, but modules and slipring also have to be taken into account.

 

[Digger1]

digger, it states 20 fsi in listing but title states its the 2.0ltr turbo, and looking at the bhp listed im assuming it is the turbo.

mad mike, if the last one were on about is the 2.0 t then thats my choice, seems a liitle cheap though, leather cant make that much difference. and would be easy to retro fit and theres always loads of sets of leather for cabs on ebay, red set on at the moment.
i think the b7 ( facelift front ) is alot nicer looking than the b6
multi function steering is that it has controls on the wheel for the radio / phone etc. can be retro fitted though easily, i did mine.

just read the description ,yes your right ,2.0 tfsi, even better,defo;l think it's the one I'd go for :icon_thumright:

 

[madmiketyson]

I cant see any mention of VAGCOM on any of the cars Ive looked at though....guess thats something I could add later on though for a fee!

I just had a quick shufty in ebay for the red leather seats you are on about but I cant see them......have you got a link for that mate?
I am tempted by that 2.0T FSI......all your opinions are being greatfully received here

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201015356978287
That one has just come in as a late runner though!!! A bit pricier but a bit newer and comes with pretty much everything I want on it.....my biggest concern with that one is what tax band it falls into? Can anyone tell if it would fall into K or L As far as I can see, emissions wise it falls into Band L...and if so, I dont want it.......it just depends if it was registered before or after 23 March 2006

It also has the multi function steering wheel, which sounds like a good thing!

At the minute its looking like a toss up between the two FSI engines. But for both of those cars, I dont know if it tiptronic or multitronic......and I still don't know if I should be avoiding multitronics completley or not

 

[crazy88]

VAGCOM is a cable you plug into the car, like a diagnostic cable...so don't worry autotrader ad's won't mention it. It costs about £200 (i think) for the genuine kit. You plug the cable between your car and laptop, and make changes, diagnose fault codes etc.

 

[madmiketyson]

Yeah, been doing loads of research in between checking this thread multiple times a minute haha.
I sussed the VagCom thing now, although I didn't find a price for it, so nice 1 for that!

Also sussed that the car I mentioned in last post is Band L and thus out of my range, gutted as I spent the last hour persuading the missus that was the car to buy!

Any info on the gearbox question would still be much appreciated, Im off now but will check back tomorrow evening when Im home from work!

Cheers for the help so far guys

 

[NHN]

Vagcom is an aftermarket version of the VAG diagnostic units known as VAS5051/5052 that allows the installation/coding of new & existing modules for numerous features, it also is used for fault analysing & testing/measuring sensors on the car to track down issues, has many things can be used for on VAG cars, without trying to sell it, it really is a great piece of kit, when you compare audis version that costs 5k upwards & vcds costs not even 5% of this, no contest.

If you decide you would like the genuine vcds aka vagcom, please pm me as I'm a well known genuine seller on ASN.

 

[quattrojames]

:sign_plug:

 

[dans3.0]

Re the Autos
In a nutshell,
if its front wheel drive then its a multitronic
if its a quattro four wheel drive then it'll be tiptronic conventional type autobox
you cannot tell the difference between the two by looking at the shifter as they are the same for both.
Early autos had just PRND while the later ones (think from 04ish) had PRND and S which held the gears longer
Dan

 

[Digger1]

If you do decide to go for a multitronic, check the history to see if it's had the multi-box oil change, at least every 40k miles !!!, and if it's a high torque engine, then hopefully it's had the seven clutch upgrade !!!

 

[madmiketyson]

Ill be sure to pm you if I buy one of those! It sounds like a good bit of kit and when I start to mod the car, Ill get in touch.....as it stands now, I just want to buy the damned car lol.....winding me up ringing up about cars to find out they have sold already!!!

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the multitronic issues stopped at a certain year......Ive been looking at the FSI engines since you guys recommended it and I like what I am seeing.......I cant see a 2.0T Quattro (At least not in my pice range) so I presume these would all be multitronic......so an 06 FSI I need to check if it has had the 7 clutch upgrade and the 40k oil changes?

 

[Digger1]

Ill be sure to pm you if I buy one of those! It sounds like a good bit of kit and when I start to mod the car, Ill get in touch.....as it stands now, I just want to buy the damned car lol.....winding me up ringing up about cars to find out they have sold already!!!

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the multitronic issues stopped at a certain year......Ive been looking at the FSI engines since you guys recommended it and I like what I am seeing.......I cant see a 2.0T Quattro (At least not in my pice range) so I presume these would all be multitronic......so an 06 FSI I need to check if it has had the 7 clutch upgrade and the 40k oil changes?

I had a 2004 a4 1.9tdi sport with multitronic , gearbox ECU failed at 16k, then gearbox failed at 45k, needed the seven clutch upgrade, ££££££££££ ,mine was juddering on pull-off, but not from cold , so a test drive may not show the fault !!!

I'm not trying to put you off, just be carefull !!!